Average literacy and numeracy scale scores of 25- to 65-year-olds, by sex, age group, highest level of educational attainment, and country or other education system: 2012

[Standard errors appear in parentheses]

Country or other education system1

Total population of 25- to 65-year-olds

Sex

Age group

Highest level of educational attainment2

Male

Female

25 to 34

35 to 44

45 to 54

55 to 65

Less than high school completion

High school completion

Associate's degree

Bachelor's or higher degree

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Literacy scale score3

OECD average4

271

(0.2)

273

(0.3)

270

(0.2)

284

(0.4)

279

(0.3)

268

(0.3)

255

(0.3)

235

(0.5)

268

(0.3)

286

(0.5)

302

(0.3)

Austria

268

(0.8)

270

(1.1)

266

(1.0)

280

(1.5)

275

(1.7)

266

(1.4)

250

(1.6)

239

(2.1)

268

(0.9)

282

(2.2)

305

(1.7)

Canada

273

(0.6)

274

(0.9)

271

(0.9)

285

(1.3)

279

(1.4)

268

(1.3)

260

(1.1)

219

(2.1)

265

(1.1)

278

(1.2)

300

(1.0)

Czech Republic

273

(1.0)

274

(1.3)

271

(1.5)

287

(1.8)

275

(2.0)

266

(1.7)

262

(2.0)

242

(3.4)

269

(1.0)

293

(4.6)

303

(2.5)

Denmark

270

(0.7)

270

(1.1)

269

(0.9)

282

(1.7)

281

(1.6)

266

(1.4)

252

(1.1)

234

(2.1)

264

(1.2)

286

(1.3)

298

(1.5)

England (UK)

274

(1.1)

275

(1.4)

273

(1.4)

280

(2.1)

279

(1.6)

271

(1.8)

265

(2.0)

241

(1.6)

273

(1.5)

283

(2.4)

302

(1.9)

Estonia

273

(0.8)

273

(1.2)

274

(0.9)

286

(1.7)

278

(1.2)

269

(1.4)

261

(1.5)

244

(2.0)

267

(1.0)

276

(1.5)

298

(1.4)

Finland

286

(0.8)

284

(1.4)

287

(1.2)

309

(1.7)

299

(2.1)

284

(1.8)

260

(1.4)

245

(2.8)

276

(1.4)

294

(1.5)

318

(1.6)

Flanders (Belgium)

274

(0.9)

277

(1.1)

270

(1.1)

291

(1.8)

282

(1.6)

272

(1.6)

255

(1.6)

232

(2.0)

265

(1.2)

294

(1.6)

313

(1.7)

France

259

(0.6)

260

(0.9)

259

(0.8)

278

(1.4)

267

(1.3)

254

(1.2)

242

(1.3)

224

(1.3)

258

(0.9)

287

(1.4)

297

(1.2)

Germany

268

(1.0)

271

(1.2)

265

(1.3)

281

(1.8)

275

(1.6)

264

(1.7)

254

(1.7)

220

(3.0)

262

(1.1)

280

(2.3)

301

(1.6)

Ireland

266

(1.0)

267

(1.3)

264

(1.2)

276

(1.5)

271

(1.8)

259

(2.1)

251

(1.8)

232

(1.8)

266

(1.5)

279

(1.9)

301

(1.7)

Italy

249

(1.1)

249

(1.6)

248

(1.4)

260

(2.2)

253

(1.9)

249

(1.8)

233

(2.2)

231

(1.6)

263

(1.3)

‡

(†)

282

(1.6)

Japan

296

(0.7)

297

(1.0)

294

(1.0)

309

(1.7)

307

(1.0)

297

(1.5)

273

(1.6)

260

(2.6)

287

(1.0)

304

(1.4)

320

(1.1)

Korea, Republic of

269

(0.6)

273

(0.9)

264

(0.9)

290

(1.2)

278

(1.2)

259

(1.4)

244

(1.4)

230

(1.7)

265

(1.0)

282

(1.4)

297

(1.3)

Netherlands

282

(0.8)

286

(1.2)

278

(1.0)

298

(2.0)

294

(1.8)

277

(1.7)

261

(1.6)

246

(1.7)

283

(1.3)

293

(3.4)

312

(1.3)

Northern Ireland (UK)

268

(2.1)

271

(2.7)

265

(2.0)

278

(2.9)

274

(2.3)

262

(2.6)

255

(3.2)

239

(2.6)

270

(2.6)

280

(3.3)

303

(2.9)

Norway

279

(0.7)

281

(1.1)

277

(1.1)

289

(1.8)

288

(1.6)

277

(1.5)

262

(1.5)

251

(1.8)

271

(1.4)

288

(3.1)

303

(1.1)

Poland

264

(0.7)

260

(1.1)

267

(1.0)

277

(1.5)

268

(1.9)

259

(1.7)

249

(1.7)

227

(2.6)

254

(1.0)

—

(†)

297

(1.3)

Slovak Republic

273

(0.7)

273

(1.0)

274

(0.9)

278

(1.4)

278

(1.4)

270

(1.3)

266

(1.3)

238

(1.9)

275

(0.9)

—

(†)

295

(1.4)

Spain

250

(0.8)

253

(1.1)

248

(1.2)

263

(1.5)

260

(1.3)

248

(1.5)

227

(1.9)

225

(1.3)

258

(1.4)

266

(2.1)

288

(1.3)

Sweden

278

(0.8)

280

(1.2)

276

(1.2)

290

(1.9)

287

(1.8)

276

(1.7)

262

(1.3)

238

(2.2)

277

(1.2)

294

(2.4)

309

(1.4)

United States

269

(1.1)

270

(1.3)

269

(1.4)

275

(2.0)

273

(1.8)

266

(1.7)

263

(1.5)

211

(2.7)

259

(1.4)

282

(2.8)

302

(1.7)

Non-OECD education systems

Cyprus5

269

(0.9)

269

(1.3)

270

(1.1)

275

(1.7)

270

(1.5)

270

(1.7)

261

(1.6)

248

(1.9)

266

(1.2)

273

(2.0)

290

(1.5)

Russian Federation6

275

(3.0)

274

(3.3)

277

(3.1)

273

(4.1)

278

(3.9)

277

(3.7)

275

(3.9)

248

(7.5)

272

(4.2)

276

(2.8)

282

(3.1)

Numeracy scale score3

OECD average4

268

(0.2)

275

(0.3)

262

(0.3)

279

(0.4)

275

(0.4)

266

(0.4)

253

(0.4)

227

(0.5)

265

(0.3)

283

(0.9)

303

(0.4)

Austria

274

(0.9)

281

(1.3)

267

(1.1)

282

(1.7)

281

(2.0)

274

(1.7)

257

(1.7)

237

(2.3)

276

(1.1)

292

(2.6)

315

(1.8)

Canada

265

(0.8)

273

(1.0)

257

(1.0)

276

(1.4)

272

(1.5)

260

(1.4)

251

(1.4)

206

(2.5)

255

(1.2)

271

(1.5)

295

(1.0)

Czech Republic

275

(1.0)

280

(1.5)

270

(1.4)

288

(1.8)

277

(1.8)

272

(2.2)

263

(2.0)

235

(3.3)

271

(1.0)

287

(6.1)

313

(2.5)

Denmark

279

(0.8)

285

(1.4)

273

(1.0)

287

(1.9)

290

(1.6)

277

(1.6)

265

(1.2)

241

(2.4)

275

(1.3)

295

(1.4)

309

(1.8)

England (UK)

263

(1.1)

270

(1.4)

256

(1.6)

267

(2.2)

269

(1.9)

259

(1.9)

257

(1.9)

226

(1.9)

262

(1.5)

271

(3.0)

295

(2.2)

Estonia

272

(0.6)

276

(1.0)

269

(0.9)

284

(1.7)

275

(1.1)

269

(1.4)

259

(1.3)

236

(1.8)

265

(0.9)

275

(1.4)

300

(1.3)

Finland

282

(0.8)

286

(1.3)

277

(1.2)

302

(2.1)

292

(2.2)

279

(2.0)

260

(1.3)

244

(2.8)

271

(1.3)

291

(1.6)

314

(1.7)

Flanders (Belgium)

280

(0.9)

289

(1.2)

271

(1.3)

295

(1.9)

289

(1.8)

280

(1.9)

260

(1.6)

235

(1.9)

272

(1.2)

300

(1.5)

323

(1.8)

France

252

(0.7)

258

(1.0)

247

(1.0)

269

(1.5)

262

(1.6)

246

(1.4)

234

(1.5)

208

(1.3)

251

(1.0)

287

(1.7)

299

(1.4)

Germany

271

(1.1)

280

(1.4)

262

(1.4)

282

(1.8)

279

(2.0)

268

(1.9)

256

(1.9)

210

(3.4)

264

(1.2)

287

(2.5)

310

(1.7)

Ireland

255

(1.0)

261

(1.4)

249

(1.3)

266

(1.7)

260

(1.7)

250

(2.1)

238

(2.3)

218

(2.2)

254

(1.6)

274

(2.1)

294

(1.9)

Italy

246

(1.1)

253

(1.6)

240

(1.4)

262

(2.3)

251

(1.9)

244

(2.0)

229

(2.2)

225

(1.5)

265

(1.5)

‡

(†)

280

(2.1)

Japan

289

(0.8)

296

(1.2)

282

(1.1)

297

(1.6)

297

(1.3)

291

(1.7)

273

(1.6)

247

(2.5)

281

(1.3)

291

(1.3)

319

(1.2)

Korea, Republic of

260

(0.7)

266

(1.0)

254

(1.1)

281

(1.4)

271

(1.5)

251

(1.4)

232

(1.7)

215

(1.9)

256

(1.0)

275

(1.6)

293

(1.5)

Netherlands

279

(0.8)

288

(1.3)

270

(1.1)

293

(1.8)

287

(2.1)

277

(1.7)

262

(1.7)

243

(1.9)

281

(1.2)

292

(3.5)

310

(1.3)

Northern Ireland (UK)

258

(1.8)

265

(2.2)

251

(2.0)

268

(2.9)

266

(2.4)

252

(2.1)

245

(3.1)

225

(2.9)

261

(2.1)

273

(3.0)

298

(2.4)

Norway

280

(0.9)

288

(1.3)

272

(1.2)

285

(2.0)

289

(1.9)

280

(1.7)

265

(1.7)

246

(2.2)

273

(1.5)

296

(3.7)

306

(1.3)

Poland

258

(1.0)

259

(1.5)

257

(1.0)

270

(1.5)

262

(2.2)

254

(2.1)

244

(1.9)

216

(3.1)

250

(1.2)

—

(†)

290

(1.5)

Slovak Republic

275

(0.9)

277

(1.2)

274

(1.1)

279

(1.6)

281

(1.7)

275

(1.6)

265

(1.6)

226

(2.4)

278

(1.0)

—

(†)

306

(1.5)

Spain

245

(0.7)

251

(1.1)

238

(1.1)

257

(1.3)

255

(1.3)

242

(1.6)

221

(1.7)

217

(1.3)

254

(1.5)

264

(2.4)

283

(1.3)

Sweden

279

(1.0)

286

(1.5)

272

(1.2)

288

(2.0)

286

(2.0)

276

(2.3)

268

(1.7)

237

(2.6)

277

(1.4)

297

(2.6)

311

(1.5)

United States

254

(1.2)

262

(1.3)

246

(1.5)

260

(2.2)

258

(1.9)

250

(2.1)

247

(1.8)

185

(3.1)

241

(1.5)

266

(3.1)

293

(1.7)

Non-OECD education systems

Cyprus5

265

(0.9)

270

(1.2)

260

(1.3)

273

(2.0)

269

(1.6)

265

(1.8)

250

(1.8)

230

(2.3)

264

(1.4)

270

(2.1)

292

(1.6)

Russian Federation6

269

(2.8)

268

(3.3)

271

(3.0)

269

(4.2)

270

(3.6)

272

(3.2)

267

(3.9)

234

(8.5)

265

(4.0)

268

(2.6)

280

(3.0)

—Not available.

†Not applicable.

‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases).

1 Most of the education systems represent complete countries, but three of them represent subnational entities: England (which is part of the United Kingdom), Flanders (which is part of Belgium), and Northern Ireland (which is part of the United Kingdom).

2 High school completion includes International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 1997 levels 3 and 4, with the exception of ISCED level 3C short programs. ISCED 3C short programs do not correspond to high school completion in the United States and are included in the "less than high school completion" column in this table. The associate's degree data in this table refer to degrees classified as ISCED 1997 level 5B. The data for bachelor’s or higher degree refer to degrees classified as ISCED 1997 level 5A and as level 6.

3 Scale scores range from 0 to 500.

4 Refers to the mean of the data values for all reporting Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and subnational education systems, to which each country or subnational education system reporting data contributes equally, with the exception of England (UK) and Northern Ireland (UK), which contribute to the mean as a combined entity, England/Northern Ireland (UK).

5 Cyprus includes only the population under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. For the educational attainment data (columns 9 through 12), the item response rate for Cyprus is below 85 percent; missing data have not been explicitly accounted for.

6 The Russian Federation does not include the population of the Moscow municipal region.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), 2012. (This table was prepared May 2016.)